Britain's Most Boring Town

[sjs]

Not exactly boring as such but the worst place I've ever visited in Britain is Rhyll.

Back in the '70s the local buses (Midland General?) in Ilkeston, Derbyshire used to advertise day trips to Rhyl. Perhaps they still do. Ilkeston is not boring; more grimly fascinating, in common with many of the ex-mining communities in the area (D. H. Lawrence country).

[Cyril Haearn]

Never visit Withernsea. Rhyll is a quality holiday park compared to that.

Interestingly the first use of a taser type of device in the UK was in police trials held in humberside and specifically Withernsea. A local copper recognised a local n'er do well with outstanding warrant going into a phone booth. In going to arrest him the coppers took into account his history of carrying knives. So the took no chances and zapped him. I seem to recall it wasn't the right guy but that could be wrong.

I guess that makes it less than dull by a small margin.

They could have just jammed him in the phone box and called for help
Philip Larkin liked to go cycling outwith Hull, towards Withernsea, looks an interesting area, old rail tracks to cycle on
Rhyl/Y Rhyl is spelt with one 'l'
I like Prestatyn, it has a fine train station and a path to Chepstow

[Cyril Haearn]

Boring, is Portsmouth worse than Southampton? Harwich for the continent?

[Hobbs1951]

Philip Larkin liked to go cycling outwith Hull, towards Withernsea, looks an interesting area, old rail tracks to cycle on

Larkin's forays into Holderness are reasonably well documented now, the main towns being Beverley, Hedon, Hornsea and Withernsea - draw a line from Hull* to Bridington* and the area to the east of the line is Holderness.

My V-CC section runs Larkin Rides in Holderness; among the lost lanes of Queen Anne's Lace, and view the shining gull-marked mud. Larkin once wrote to a friend, it is very nice and flat for cycling.

J.

*Holderness towns too

FYI, poets living in Hull at the same time as Larkin were Richard Murphy and Douglas Dunne. Ted Hughes was a regular visitor and Malcolm Bradbury lived in a Holderness village. A famous resident is of course David Hockney who lives in a village near Bridlington - wonderful paintings of the Yorkshire Wolds.

[Cyril Haearn]

Plus One for Larkin the Cyclist
What sort of machines did he ride, did he do long distances? He took off his cycle-clips in awkward reverence, I guess he cycled in everyday clothes

[Hobbs1951]

He rode a typical roadster (maybe a Hercules or Raleigh), I've only one image of him with his bicycle and it looked a little small ! How far did he ride ? As far as Beverley, Lockington: Larkin loved the remoteness of Holderness and it's romantic names - Cherry Cob Sands, Skeffing, Sunk Island...

Larkin, on Hull and Holderness -

People are slow to leave it, quick to return...yet they are always there, giving Hull the air of having it's face half-turned towards the distance and silence and what lies beyond them.

J.

[armadillo]

Personally, I find my reaction to a town ( or indeed any 'new' place) is at least partly determined by my own frame of mind at the time. Thus my impression of Fort William was probably coloured by the fact that I was dog tired after a very long drive. A well-rested, positive frame of mind can usually uncover points of interest almost anywhere...

[ambodach]

A few years ago I was discharged from hospital in Oban and due to a clash with ferry timings and buses on Mull I thought I would have a walk around Oban on a sunny day to wait for a connecting service. It seemed so sleazy and untidy with a smell of chip fat everywhere that I got on an earlier boat and sat on a wall in Craignure for a couple of hours. Much nicer. I searched the boat but there were no local passengers who could have given me a lift as is often the custom.

[feefee8]

Fort William is its own destination for many many tourists in the summer months as well as being a place people pass through. Geographically somewhat limited by the loch on one side and big mountain on another, there isn’t a huge amount of room for another shopping street and frankly the winter trade wouldn’t sustain it anyway.

The bypass could have been done to create a less depressing view onto the backs of the high street buildings. This is the view a lot of people can spend a lot of time looking at due to the crazy traffic in the summer (up to 2 hours from one end to the other at some points and this isn’t exactly a big town).

On the plus side we’re getting a new cinema, we have several delis including a vegan shop and some other independent businesses sitting amongst the Spoons, Travelodge and Costa. And there might even be a KFC soon beside the drive through Costa soon.

Historically it has been very much the second town of the Highlands and has suffered from a lack of local government investment in the way that Inverness has benefitted.

Boring though - that’s in the eye of the beholder...

[Cyril Haearn]

The railway to Fort Bill should be upgraded! It has a peculiar status as the centre for a large geographical area (how many people?)

[feefee8]

The railway to Fort Bill should be upgraded! It has a peculiar status as the centre for a large geographical area (how many people?)

Not sure of the catchment population but I think the town has about 11,000 inhabitants. I agree about the upgrade - 4 hrs to Glasgow is restrictive regardless of the scenery.

The replacement direct bus service is usually quicker than the train. And it’s on a lot in the winter when Scotrail run out of staff!

[RickH]

Personally, I find my reaction to a town ( or indeed any 'new' place) is at least partly determined by my own frame of mind at the time. Thus my impression of Fort William was probably coloured by the fact that I was dog tired after a very long drive. A well-rested, positive frame of mind can usually uncover points of interest almost anywhere...

I still remember my pre-university days. I had an interview at Birmingham & didn't like it when I got there - it was a grey wet day. I've been back over the years on nice sunny days & seen that it is a really nice campus. I got identical offers from Salford & UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology - in those day a separate entity from the main university). I turned down the Salford offer as I didn't want to go to Salford (never having been to the area)! When I eventually pitched up at UMIST I discovered that Salford Uni & UMIST were only a couple of miles apart!?! (& Mrs H spent over 20 years working as a teacher in Salford!)

[Cyril Haearn]

Anytown is boring if one lives there long enough
Except London maybe?
'She who is tired of London, is tired of life' (Dr Johnson)
Did he get bored of Lichfield?

[pete75]

Anytown is boring if one lives there long enough
Except London maybe?
'She who is tired of London, is tired of life' (Dr Johnson)
Did he get bored of Lichfield?

Actually it was He who is tired of London is tired of life.

[pete75]

Boring, is Portsmouth worse than Southampton? Harwich for the continent?

And Frinton for the incontinent.